


Legends and Loneliness

by TheChosenFerret



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Daily Prophet, Drarry, M/M, mentions of rita skeeter, muggle bar, past hinny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-06 04:25:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15878508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheChosenFerret/pseuds/TheChosenFerret
Summary: After months of the news following Harry around all day, he gets sick of it and soon finds Draco at a muggle bar.





	1. Chapter 1

Lights flashed across the dark, night sky. The sound of each camera taking a picture ringing in his ears as much as the lights blinded him. Another mic was shoved in his face. "Mr. Potter, why did you break up with Ginny?" 

"Mr. Potter, please, is it true that Ginny is dating Luna now?" Several more mics pushing their way through the crowd outside his house. 

"Mr. Potter, are you aware that the kids of future generations will always remember you?"

Once there was enough room to do so, Harry slammed the door, the flashing of floating cameras outside still making their way in even with the curtain’s best effort, making him close his windows too. He sighed and fell on the couch, not even having enough energy to take off his shoes. 

"So I'm assuming that the press isn't taking the news well," asked Ginny, walking into the room with a few boxes behind her. 

"Yep, even after a few months. Can't believe they're still talking about it."

"Well, it’s not like there’s any other news to talk about."

“They could report on the… um… new school year coming up! Yea, that would be an article or two, if they really stretch it.”

“Or, they could take the easy way, and keep following up around everywhere, waiting for something else to occur.”

Summoning a cup of coffee, Harry tossed his jacket onto the closest chair, before sitting down on the couch. 

“Look, I need to head to quidditch practice, make sure you don’t curse everyone outside.”

“I can’t promise-”

“-Harry…”

“Fine. Fine. I swear I won’t curse them.”

“Or teleport them away.”

“Or teleport them away,” he repeated.

“Or teleport the house.”

“Do you really think I would do something as crazy as that?” Ginny stared back while grabbing her Holyhead Harpies gear. “Or teleport the house.”

“Good, see you later.” Harry could barely say bye before she disapparated out of the house. 

More lights went off outside, trying to get a photo through any crack in the window. Not wanting to give them any chance to get a photo of him, he disapparated away towards one location that he was 99% sure he wouldn’t see another wizard. 

The world disappeared around him in an instance as he apparated towards a small muggle bar a few miles away. 

It was an old, rugged building. The type that you would assume to be abandoned if it weren’t for the music blasting from the dimming lit insides, along with a few conversations loud enough that the music didn’t drain it out. Slowly, Harry pushed open the door, making a little bell at the top ring quietly. The inside looked slightly more habitable than the outside. There were a few tables, most of the seats filled by a laughing group, all with multiple drinks covering the table.

He slowly made his way over to the bar, where the bartender sat, fixing up another guy’s drink. Most of the seats were either falling apart or taken makingHarry scouted the area until he found a half decent chair. Finally getting used to not being noticed without some sort of disguise, Harry settled in, calling over to the bartender to get a drink. 

Everything was going great until a voice spoke up behind him. 

“Potter?” Almost falling off the seat, Harry turned around to see what wizard could possibly be here, but there is only one person who has ever called his Potter, let alone with that amount of snarkiness and sarcasm, though there was less of it this night, more of a surprised tone. 

Finally calmed down from his nearly dangerous fall off the chair, he finally got to look up to see the blond haired man standing before him. “Malfoy? What are you doing here?”

“I should ask the same to you.”

“Well, I’m here to get away from everyone that knows me, but clearly I did a rubbish job at that. Why are you here then?”

“Same as you, I rather not keep getting stared at all day, it gets rather annoying after the first few times.” 

Draco pulled up a chair as the bartender started to shake up Harry’s drink in front of them. “So,” the guy started to say, making sure a wave of awkwardness won’t hit them, “Old friends?”

“Um-” Harry started to say, trying to figure out what the right word for each other would be before Draco bet him to it.

“Yea, you could call it that.”

Seeing the slightly confused look on Harry’s face, the bartender finished the drink and carried on to the next person, not wanting to get into their business too much.

“What did you mean saying we’re friends.”

“The exact words were “you could call it that,” and if we weren’t the slightest bit friends, then I wouldn’t of come over to talk to you and instead maybe put a laughing potion in your drink.”

Harry took a sip of his drink before slowly setting it down, realizing what Malfoy had said. “How do I know you didn’t do both?”

“Do you see either of us laughing yet?”

“Good point,” Harry replied, grabbing his drink and sipping most of it down in one gulp.

“Something happened?”

“You know, the usual. Trying to avoid being all over the newspapers for breathing or eating.”

“How about you, what happened to drive you to a muggle bar?”

“Well with all of the death eater trials done for now, the reporters keep trying to find someone doing something bad so they follow me around wherever I go, just waiting for a piece of trash to accidentally fly out of the bin and blame me on it.”

“We need to start doing something about them.”

“Yea, but what?”

Harry took no time in answering like he was just waiting for someone that would finally agree with him. “We try to get more attention.”

Draco just stared, trying to work out in his mind how this man ever graduated Hogwarts. “Potter, why would we want more attention. If you haven’t noticed, we’re trying to do the exact opposite of that.”

“Since as soon as they write every article about us, the public will grow bored fast, with every article being about how you and I are eating ice cream or watching a movie.”

“So to get away from the papers, we get in the papers?”

“Bingo.”

Draco sighed, “Even if it doesn’t work, I guess it could be a little fun to try.”

Harry finished off his drink, placing some money on the counter. “Hey, how about we go somewhere a little quieter to hang out on like a date or something? To um- you know… confuse them. They’ll go crazy with figuring out the title too like Has Harry Potter Moved On From Ginny? Or Draco Malfoy, the Man who could soon be a Potter.”

“No, it would clearly be You’re Gonna Die When You Hear Who the Boy Who Lived is Dating Now!”

“And yes Potter,” Draco replied, pulling Harry up from his chair, “But let’s make it an actual date.”

“You okay,” he asked, as Harry froze in place.

“Perfect,” Harry grinned, following Draco out the door to apparate away.


	2. Chapter 2

The dark silhouette of a park appeared in front of them as the appeared with a pop as the world slowly stopped spinning. Only a few sidewalk lights shined out into the abandoned field, with the last glimpse of the sunset slowly melting away.

Draco led Harry to a little park bench and made a little bubble of light float around them, staying close to the table to make sure no one walking by would see a random ball of light just casually hanging out.

“So what’s the plan for this date of ours?” Draco asked, brushing off a few fallen leaves from the table.

“I thought you had something in mind, after all, you dragged me here.”

“What all I said was I knew of a place that is usually empty at night, you were the one to first suggest it.”

“Well, if we want something romantic and still get the press to see us… how about some coffee?”

“This late at night?”

“Okay, ice cream then.”

“Have you realized how late it is, all the shops are most likely closed by now, let alone have journalists near them.”

“Okay then, let’s just plan it all out tonight… maybe with a bit of food or something for the date. This is a real date right?”

“Of course it is, Potter. Why would I ask for an actual date if I didn’t want to actually date you.”

Harry laughed, fidgeting with the end of his sleeve, “Yea, yea that makes sense.”

“Are you okay.”

“Yea, sorry, it’s just I’ve never been very good at dates, I’ve only really had them after I broke up with Ginny.”

“As the daily prophet loves to remind you.”

“Their only hobby now.” There was a bit of silence before Harry finally spoke up again. “So, you actually read all of them?”

“Of course, they’re hilarious. Especially the ones were it just goes on and on about the different ways you prepare your toast. Are you saying you never read about how I prepare my toast?”

“Sometimes, you know, if the paper is sitting there.”

“The paper that you have to go out and get yourself which usually only feature one person?”

“Maybe I’ve read a few more of yours than other peoples.”

“And by a few more you mean all of them?”

“So what’s the first thing we should do?”

“Don’t change the subject!”

“No, not changing the subject when we talk to the reporters won’t get us out of the news soon.”

Draco sighed, “I’ll just take that as a sign that you’ve read all of them.”

Harry humphed, taking another cookie.

“Okay, so what if we try to constantly disappear on them? Like constantly apparating from one corner to the other, just out of reach of their cameras. That would make them go crazy, right?”

“Yes, that’s perfect,” Harry thought for a second, “What if we started to do all the outrageous things they said we did in all the articles?”

“So like almost murdering everyone then having a smoothie?”

“Maybe just the ones that don’t require any death?”

“Aww, then you can jump off your broom into an erupting volcano cause your date didn’t go well again.”

“Piss off. To have you know I would of used a cheaper broom for that instead of the newest model they advertised conveniently on the same page. I wouldn’t be so careless as to hurt a new broom.”

“But you would go in without any protection?”

“Protection for the broom, of course.”

Draco could only sigh in response, wondering how Harry’s even gotten this far in life without dying more than once.

The two of them sat there until the sun was about to rise, well out of snacks by then. Most of the birds in the trees barely got any sleep from them chatting loudly all night, barely stopping to write ideas down or eat.

Soon, they both finally left to their houses again, ready with the plan to sleep until the evening so they can make the reporters follow them around all night. Just a small added bonus to the list large list of ideas they made.

Harry returned to his house, Ginny was already back and lounging out on the couch reading the daily paper next to a few boxes of her stuff and a large cup of coffee that was barely touched yet.

“Long night?” She finally piped up, starting on her coffee.

Harry could only yawn in response, trying so hard not to fall asleep on the floor. Barely able to get any more words out, he just nodded in response and headed off to bed, tiredly excited for the evening.


	3. Chapter 3

“So what should this meeting our be called this time? A second date or just pure mischief?” Draco asked, walking through the entrance to Diagon Alley with Harry, drifting into a crowd of people to try to stay hidden for a least a few more minutes.

“Both? After all what’s a better date then constantly apparating in and out of locations, barely stopping long enough to feel dizziness.”

“Maybe that part of the plan wasn’t the best sleep-deprived thought we had that night.”

“Are we still going to do it then?”

 

“Why wouldn’t we?” Draco smirked, dragging Harry into the nearest coffee shop to start setting their plans into action. Already they could spot about 3 different reporters, the reporters clearly spotting them too. 

“You ready?” Harry asked, watching Draco nod in reply. 

As they stepped inside of the newest coffee shop on Diagon Alley, Whirling Awake, they were flooded with different scents of coffee, hot chocolate, and of the little pastries that were floating around the room on plates.

They settled on a table of two right in the middle of the room, a spot they would of never considered taking if it were for their mission of getting the attention of as many reporters as possible. 

It was beginning to appear like they picked the one day where reporters were nowhere to be seen, but just as their coffees arrived at the table, the usual shriek of excitement came from the waitress, practically waking up the reporters like angry bees. Almost immediately, cameras were being turned on. The usual sound of clicking began to start as the cameras took off on their own, flying through the sky, leaving their person behind to join their automatic quill in taking as many notes as they could. 

“Ready?” Draco asked, grabbing Harry’s hand in one hand and his vanilla burst in the other.

Harry laid a few coins on the table as he took his dark coffee. “Ready,” he replied, but just as the words left his mouth, Draco apparated the two of them away, officially beginning the hunt. 

Their stomachs were already beginning to feel the effect of just one apparition as they landed on the cold pavement outside of the coffee shop. It barely took a second before the cameras flooded out of the door, surrounding them once again. Before the memories could flood in, Harry apparated again, this time to the other side of the street. If they wanted to confuse the hell out of the cameras, then they’re going to have to sacrifice a bit of comfort, strike that, a lot of comfort. 

After the 4th apparition, they finally made it about one block away, with the nice addition of not being able to feel most of their stomachs anymore. By now, they’ve only managed to discourage one reporter and confused two cameras to the point of making the little springs burst out of it. At this rate, they would be lucky to be finished by the 80th apparition, a theory that they didn’t want to test out. No, if they wanted to come out of this with all their organs in the right place, they would need to do something risky, something that would really infuriate the press when they can’t capture the proof.

“I think I may just have an idea, if you trust me,” Draco asked, holding out his hand. 

“Let’s do it,” Harry replied, taking a firm grasp on Draco’s hand, waiting for the horrible feeling of another apparition. In a second, there was a pop followed by all the sounds of the camera slowly stopping, getting ready to race to the next spot. 

Within a second, they arrived underneath an umbrella the ice cream parlor had sitting out. 

“This is a date right?” Draco asked, placing both of their cups on the empty table sides them, then pointing his wand near Harry’s glasses before casting an impervius charm on their so Harry can see during what’s about to happen.

“Last time I checked it was.”

“Perfect, then this will fit right in. Just, um, follow my lead.” Waiting a second before they heard the rush of cameras clicking from a few blocks away, Draco leaned closer to Harry, mumbling fumos as he pointed his wand to them, making fog begin to gather up around their face. Any chance of the cameras getting a picture of them disappeared as the smoke began to cover up every lens. Out of the corner of their eye, they could see the reporteres trying to clean their cameras before it’s too late, or frantically pulling out new, worse quality back up cameras, and becoming more and more frustrated as they fogged up almost immediately after they took off the lens cap.

Already fairly exhausted and dizzy from all the movement, this made Harry’s head turn and turn even more. He could hear the men running around the corner, their minds racing as much as Harry’s but for a completely different reason. Harry grabbed Draco’s hands, leaning in more with him, deciding that if his mind was going to want to think about everything right now, he might as well just not think about what was happening at all.

Just as the cameras started to get close enough for them to take a clear photo of them being so close, Draco took the lead and apparated them away to a dark entrance to a small alley between a toy shop and a small restaurant. 

They could hear the shouts of anger from missing the perfect shot for their article, being so close to having actual proof of their crazy tales, something the rest of their stories mysteriously didn’t have. 

Finally realizing what almost happened, the two of them quickly backed away, their skin already putting their emotions on display for the world to see. 

Catching Harry’s eyes at last, Draco spoke up, shuffling a little closer together again, “I think I have one more idea, now that we lost them for a few seconds.”

“And what would that be?”

“This,” replied Draco before closing the distance between them as little bits of the leftover mist started to swirl around them, twisting in the air like it was just as happy as they were. 

Not far from them, cameras could be heard clicking, but getting caught was the farthest thing on their mind now. After this big news article, the world would clearly crave more of the juicy gossip, but the that didn’t matter anymore, because they know that whatever the reporters decide to do next, they can defeat them together, but maybe with a tad bit less of stomach twisting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed! <3 (Also, I have no clue how to write kisses so I hope it turned out okay!)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks sooo much for readings this! I've had it in my unfinished pile for so long that it's a miracle I didn't completely forget about it.


End file.
